Gino Borsoi gives the background to Jorge Martin’s strong improvement in form – The Pramac team manager sees Martin as the best rider in the MotoGP field at present
The Pramac team could celebrate the greatest success in team history at the end of November. The Italian squad is not only on the verge of winning the satellite team classification, but also the World Team Championship. And with Jorge Martin, they could also become the riders’ world champion.
Before the final triple-header, the Spaniard is just 13 World Championship points behind defending champion Francesco Bagnaia. Without a crash in Indonesia and wrong tire choice in Australia, Martin could already have a clear lead.
For Pamac team manager Gino Borsoi, Martin is “the strongest rider in the MotoGP field.” Borsoi, who raced in the 125cc class from 1997 to 2004, has worked in Jorge Martinez’s Aspar team for the past ten years. In the process, he gained a lot of experience.
This year, Borsoi took over as team manager at the Pramac team, a position that had been vacant following Francesco Guidotti’s move to KTM. According to Martin, Borsoi has brought more structure to the racing team.
“When I started this project with Pramac, I knew there were two great riders. But for some reason Jorge couldn’t show his full potential,” Borsoi looked back on the winter in an interview with the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com.
“This year the circumstances were right, even on a technical level. From this point of view, the team is operating at the highest level. There is absolutely nothing missing. So I’m not surprised by how Martin is driving.”
“But to be honest, at the beginning of the season I didn’t expect us to be playing a role in the title fight with three races to go,” Borsoi admits. Last year, the Pramac duo struggled because they were racing with Ducati’s 2022 specification engine.
The perceived connection between the throttle and the engine was not optimal for Martin. Pramac did not win a single race. The factory team had discarded this specification. That was the right decision and explained the difference between factory and Pramac last year.
What Pramac has been working on with Martin
“The important factor is the bike. From the first moment at the Valencia test Martin said he liked the bike much more than his old one from 2022,” Borsoi points out. “He has also developed a lot as a rider and as a personality.”
“We looked at the past years and came to the conclusion that Jorge should prepare better for the long races on Sunday, and not so much for the sprint or qualifying on Saturday.”
“He’s always been an explosive rider, that’s been proven. But in the race he was missing something. He was very fast, but he often didn’t bring home the result. He has always lacked some consistency. We talked a lot about that at the beginning of the year. “
Borsoi explains further, “The idea was that we wouldn’t focus so much on qualifying, but prepare better for the races. That’s how it went. Step by step he got better and became more consistent in the race.”
“Once he managed that, we then worked on getting stronger on Saturday as well. We wanted to find a balance. Between what he already had on Saturday and for it to be a little better on Sunday. Jorge has the speed and the skills. We can see that.”
The numbers back that up, too. Since the European opener at Jerez, Martin’s Sunday results have been very consistent. He finished second twice and won at the Sachsenring. His worst result so far was seventh in Spielberg.
He then turned up the heat in the second half of the season. In Misano he captured his first pole position. Martin was fastest in three of the past six qualifying sessions. In addition, he has won all of the last five sprints. Since Misano he always fought for victory on Sunday as well.
Borsoi does not expect a stable order from Ducati
Pramac is putting the Ducati factory team in the shade. “We are now doing something that was unthinkable at the beginning of the season,” Borsoi says of not expecting so much success. Johann Zarco also won his first Grand Prix most recently in Australia.
“However it ends up, we’ve had a great season. That’s why I think the pressure is on Bagnaia and the factory team. He has to prove that he is the best. I think we put more pressure on him and on Ducati than they put on us,” Borsoi feels.
Stall order is not an issue at Ducati this season either. Martin is treated as an equal rider, as he is a factory-paid rider. The collaboration with Pramac is close. It’s effectively a second factory team in different colors.
“We have talked about it and I don’t think anything will change,” says Borsoi on the subject of stable orders. “I’m sure everything will continue as usual. I’m not worried about anything. I don’t see any reason for any orders either.”
“Besides, it’s a Jorge 3.0 now, because he has improved in every aspect. Even in the rain he has speed, although that was one of his weaknesses. Looking at the past races, I would say that Martin is the strongest rider in the MotoGP field. “
